This post was updated Jan. 7 at 4:03 p.m.
Two of the country’s most efficient players took the court on Sunday.
UCLA’s 6-foot-7 sophomore center Lauren Betts – touting a nation-leading 72.8% field goal percentage – matched up against Oregon State’s 6-foot-4 forward Raegan Beers and her 68.5% shooting clip.
But with Betts limited inside and Beers navigating early foul trouble, a UCLA veteran in graduate student guard Charisma Osborne littered the stat sheet with contributions to lift the Bruins above the Beavers.
Behind Osborne’s team-high 15 points to pair with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball (14-0, 3-0 Pac-12) outlasted Oregon State (12-2, 1-2) in a 65-54 victory in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins battled a Beaver squad that came within two points in its final against USC on Friday and was undefeated before the double-ranked Los Angeles road swing.
Following the victory, Osborne said the composure of the team down the stretch compensated for errors and oversights en route to UCLA’s lowest point total of the season.
“We had a lot of little mental lapses that we can take care of, easy things like that,” Osborne said. “Just being able to execute and finish when things get hard. But I think that the team did a great job of staying together and being able to pull out the win.”
In the first half alone, Osborne went 4-of-7 from the field for eight points, alongside three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
The Beavers locked down on Betts, limiting her to four points on 1-of-4 shooting through the first 20 minutes, while the Bruins sent Beers to the bench with two fouls in the first quarter.
Sophomore guard Londynn Jones helped buoy the Bruins in the first half with a pair of steals and 3-pointers – the second of which earned her admission into the 500-point club.
But Beers began to benefit from the whistle in the second frame.
UCLA sent Beers to the line three times, and her split conversion from the charity stripe kept Oregon State within striking distance. With 1:20 to play in the half, the Beavers cut the Bruins’ advantage to 27-26. But courtesy of layups from sophomore guard Kiki Rice and sophomore forward Lina Sontag, UCLA entered the locker room leading 31-26.
The Bruins dominated the third frame with a 9-0 run to stretch the lead to 42-31 and forced five Beaver turnovers with the help of their press. The away squad endured an over five-minute scoring drought until Beers hit a pull-up jumper to cut the Bruin lead to nine.
“That’s been a big emphasis in practice this week, just pressing the entire time,” Rice said. “Sometimes at the end we’ve been kind of lagging off on that, … so we’ve been reminding each other in the huddles, and I think it’s been a great group effort.”
Following a layup from Osborne at the start of the fourth frame to bring her point total to 12, Betts found the bottom of the net for the first time since the eight-minute mark of the second quarter. UCLA had earned its largest lead yet at 56-40.
A chorus of boos rang out when Beers drew her third consecutive foul on the Bruins, and displays of disbelief dawned on the Bruin players. But in veteran fashion, Osborne clapped her hands under the basket to regroup the home squad.
“Charisma has been so steady,” coach Cori Close said. “She has just come into every game with a composure about her. … Her steadiness and her leadership have been absolutely spectacular.”
Oregon State ignited a 12-2 with just over three minutes to play, but UCLA completed the extra passes to find Osborne alone on the right wing.
She squared up and swished it.
The Bruins’ lead ballooned to 11, and they closed out their homestand with a still-perfect record.
“I think our guard play – Charisma, Kiki, Londynn – it was their best complete game, most complete game on both ends of the court,” Close said. “They’re the reason we came out on top.”
